Ayn Rand was born on February 2nd, 1905 as Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum to a Russian Jewish family in St. Petersburg, Russia (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). As a child, Rand was always a person of character (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). When she was two, she taught herself how to read, and by the time she was nine, she decided that she wanted to become a fictional writer (Hall 450-455). Even though she had aspiring dreams, Rand’s life was not so great. At twelve, she witnessed the Russian Revolution and the rise of the Bolsheviks (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). She and her family were forced to get rid of her their pharmacy and sought refuge in the Crimea Peninsula (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). However, through all of the turmoil that happened in her life, Rand was able to find love. On April 15th, 1929 she married actor Frank O’Connor (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). The following year Rand became a citizen of the United States of America (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). While Rand was in America, she faced lung cancer in 1974 because she smoked heavily (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). Sadly, Ayn Rand died on March 6th, 1982 in New York City, New York at 77 years old due to heart failure (http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-rand/bio.html). Rand lived through some terrible times, but that does not mean that she did not live her life to the fullest in any way she possibly could.
As a historical figure, she challenged the minds of others. She made others think for themselves based on reason more than religion or belief. Rand has changed political aspects as well as writing aspects. She ta...
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... Greek Titan as “the giant who holds the world on his shoulder” (http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/432.Ayn_Rand). That being the case, she captures the how the country’s most powerful industrialists disappear and without them, the key industries disappear as well (http://www.aynrand.org/novels/atlas-shrugged). She also tells others that the mystery novel is “not about the murder of man’s body, but about the murder—and rebirth—of man’s spirit (http://www.aynrand.org/novels/atlas-shrugged). Fountainhead provides an eagerness for individual ideas (http://www.aynrand.org/novels/the-fountainhead). It teaches the importance of new experiences and how to pursue typical dreams and occupations (http://www.aynrand.org/novels/the-fountainhead). In each novel, Rand demonstrates the power of individualists’ ideas in America and all over the world and how they can shape us.
Many people seem to get entangled into society's customs. In the novel Anthem, the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, lives a period of his life as a follower. However, Equality eventually, tries to distant himself from his society. He is shaped to be a follower, but eventually emerges in to an individual and a leader. On his journey, he discovers the past remains of his community. Ayn Rand uses Equality's discoveries of self to represent the importance of individuality in a functional society.
Ayn Rand, in Anthem, illustrates a futuristic, socialist society. In the novel, Rand destroys any sense of individuality and describes the social setbacks endured after living ‘only for the brotherhood’. The individual person fails to exist and is but a ‘we’ and recognized by a word and a series of numbers rather than a name. Additionally, she describes the horrors encountered within this different system of life: from reproduction methods to punishments. Through the life of Equality 7-2521, Rand demonstrates a person’s journey from obedience to exile in this socialist society. Throughout the entire novel, Rand criticizes Marxist theory as she demonstrates socialism’s failure to suppress revolution, thwart material dialectic, and its detriment to humanity.
The Society of Anthem is a striking instance of a dystopian society in which daily life is dominated by fear. The society is headed by a group of elders, who attempt to destroy the concept of individuality and promote the idea of collectivism. The society controls all aspects of life including roles and profession, emotions, mating and the freedom of choice. Equality 7-2521 undergoes a transformation that is contrary to the principles of Anthem’s society. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, Prometheus (formerly Equality 7-2521) should not feel guilty when he writes “why the best in me had been my sins and transgressions; and why I had never felt guilt in my sins.” because what he learned about himself over the course of the story.
The society in Anthem is a very collectivist society, thus a single individual’s health and survival might not be as important as with an objectivist “society”. However, the society in Anthem does address health and survival in a collectivist way. By having the Old Ones not work and “the State take care of them” this society deals with one of the biggest health problems, old people (7). This society takes a socialist method of health care and the State provides for all of the Old Ones which shows how they are meeting the needs of health and survival. The society takes a different approach on survival. Because of the strong collectivism, individual lives do not matter and “there are no men but only the great WE”, as long as the WE survives any one person can die and the society will not care (3). Anthem’s society takes survival to mean the survival of the whole not the individual. This shows that society is not needed for the individual’s survival, as not only does this society provide little individual health care, Equality 7-2521 in the later part of Anthem is easily able to
Berliner, Michael S., ed. Letters of Ayn Rand. By Ayn Rand. New York: Dutton, 1995.
Howard Roark’s speech in Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead displays the author's personal philosophy of objectivism. Objectivism is an idea that Ayn Rand had developed and promoted in her works of literature. Objectivism advocated for the rights of individual freedoms such as someone being able to do whatever that person desires with their own creations. In this case, Ayn Rand’s character Howard Roark; who had dynamited his own building . Through Rand’s persuading diction, immense detail, and powerful organization, Ayn Rand takes a stand through a fictional character to promote the idea that an individual should be able to live freely without society or the government scrutinizing him.
Ayn Rand's Anthem shows us her view of our world united under what seems to be communist rule. For example their view of right and wrong; which Anthem portrays is a system of very strict rules which mainly make sure that everyone is involved in a collective role within the society in this system no one is considered an individual or that they can even think as an individual.
Regarding the autobiographical nature of Kira, the main character in We the Living, Ayn Rand said "The specific events of Kira's life were not mine; her ideas, her convictions, her values were and are." (xvii) So by examining Kira's views on different things one can conclude Rand most likely shares the same views. If one reads We the Living it is very evident what Rand's views of Communism are: she is out rightly opposed to it and its core values.
in his world it was believed that ?What was not thought by all men cannot
Ayn Rand based her novel of the idea of objectivism the idea that reality exists independent of consciousness, and that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self. We see this throughout the entire novel and within all of her characters. Ayn Rand had an interesting perception of selfishness and selflessness, along with her view of objectivism. As a reader we are thinking the opposite of what the characters are thinking, and never know what is going to happen next. Roark and Keating gave new meanings to selfishness and selflessness within the world of architecture.
Ayn Rand, the author of the novella Anthem, was born is St. Petersburg, Russia in 1905. The novella was written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in England. Anthem is based on a man named Equality 7-2521, who has found a secret tunnel and has hidden inside of it to write down his thoughts, among other things. In this dystopian society it is illegal to write, have a personality, or a sense of individuality of your own. One of the themes in this novella is the domination of one’s individuality. Equality 7-2521 discovers the importance of his existence when he realizes one is the center of one’s universe, and that one’s perception gives the world its meaning, the creation and component of a persons own identity and personality. In Anthem, the
Ms. Rand’s portrayal of collectivism is astounding. She went to the extreme in her detail to get attention; and attention is what she got. The attention that Ayn drew to her book, Anthem, brought an awareness that was necessary in order to help people move past collectivism and selflessness. It was started that “The values at stake in Anthem are not merely those of the central character; they are the professed values of an entire civilization—our own” (Ayn Rand) Civilizations have been affected by authors openly sharing views to make others aware. Ayn Rand’s writings are affecting
One being the fact that this book is a collection of her essay and speeches. But the main one is how this book discusses her own Philosophy. She first explains the importance of philosophy and how it used in the real world unknowingly today, but she then says the philosophy most people follow today, Altruism, as irrational. “Altruism is the rationalization for the mass slaughter in Soviet Russia – for the legalized looting in the welfare state – for the power-lust of politicians seeking to serve the common good” (Rand 27) Altruism is basically the thought of having selfless actions and to serve others. This completely contradicts Ayn Rand’s philosophy of living, Objectivism. This is where the book becomes different form other books and even the entire world. Many people and religions are taught to help others. This follows Altruism in the fact that we are serving others and being selfless. Objectivism has many different layers to it but one of the most important parts to it is the concept that man should be self-serving. That we should be selfish and live for ourselves only under the condition that it doesn’t harm others. This is extremely different from everything we are taught since we were
From living in a depressed Russian society to living in the freedoms of America, Ayn Rand expresses the experiences she has had and the way she views American society. Ayn Rand was associated with the nationalist era. This era was during the French Revolution and inspired many people in Europe, including Ayn. The beginning of nationalism was in the 1900s, such as the time Ayn grew up in. Rand believed, “The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me”(Rand). This quote is very ironic because in Ayns early life she had left Russia and moved to America. While living in the United States, she pursued her dream in being a writer.
... she addressed many problems of her time in her writings. She was an inspirational person for the feminism movements. In fact, she awoke women’s awareness about their rights and freedom of choice. She was really a great woman.